Gennadiy Yershov. Chernigiv. 2021. Private archive of G.Yershov
Gennadiy Yershov. Chernigiv. 2021. Private archive of G.Yershov
In every work, whether monumental or chamber, one can recognize creative imagination and a light hand. These works have no stiffness; the composition is full of momentum, and the details are fascinating. Gennadiy Yershov’s works are humane, understandable, and — let’s not be afraid of this word — magically beautiful.
Andrzej Januszaitis, Chairman of the City Council of Gdańsk (1991-1994)
Gennadiy Yershov is a well-known contemporary Ukrainian and Polish sculptor and creator of several monuments — markers of Ukrainian identity in Ukraine and Europe. He is a member of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine, the National Union of Plastic Artists, and the Association of Polish Artists and Designers.
He was born on July 12, 1967 in Chernihiv. He got his degree in sculpture from the Lviv State Institute of Applied and Decorative Arts (1991), the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine(1995), and a master’s degree in sculpture from the National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture (1999). Since 2001, he has lived in Gdansk (Poland) but continues to create for Ukraine and Ukrainians. Participating in many international exhibitions since 1994, he has held more than ten solo exhibitions. He taught sculpture in Chernihiv and Poland and founded the gallery “Фарт (Luck)” (Chernihiv, 1995).
Gennadiy Yershov is a sculptor who specializes in realistic portraiture, religious sculpture, historical genre. He mainly creates portraits of well-known politicians and cultural and religious figures.
Among the most famous works of the artist on Ukrainian themes in Europe are the monuments to Taras Shevchenko in Bucharest (Romania, 1998) and to Grand Prince Volodymyr of Kyiv in Gdansk (Poland, 2015), which became the second monument to St. Volodymyr in Europe outside of Ukraine, as well as the memorial sign “To the Victims of Holodomor” in Warsaw (2008), the sculptural composition “Wacław and Bronislawa Nijynski” in the Grand Theater in Warsaw (2011), etc.
Significant works of G. Yershov in Ukraine are “Memory of Chernobyl” (1996), the first monument to Hetman Ivan Mazepa in Ukraine (2009) and a bust of Taras Shevchenko (1999) in Chernihiv, as well as monuments to P. Prokopovych in the village of Palchyky (2008) and “Chronicler” in Lyubech (1997) in Chernihiv region. In Poland, there are also a number of his sculptures of prominent Polish figures (including Pope John Paul II, Lech Walensa, Frederic Chopin), as well as works of sacred art and reliefs depicting the Passion of Christ in the Crown of Gdańsk Cathedral, a portrait gallery of contemporaries (including sculptures of Sting and Uriah Heep leader Ken Hensley).
In 2014, Gennadiy Yershov founded the international foundation Fundacja Atelier Jerszow (Poland) to promote artists, talented children and develop international relations based on cultural exchange.
